Being Sunday evening we will for once TRY to keep the summery (as it supposed to be ..) short , to the point and not keeping you from having a grand end of a weekend. Because this has been a grand weekend. Especially if you were cheering for the German team!

Having had a quite chilly day yesterday during the XC we were all very happy to jump back in our shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. 24 degrees and sunshine truly helps when you have a full day of show jumping ahead of you, especially since our spectators could enjoy it from sun bathing grand stands. Sunblock seems to be, if not entirely unheard of at least not something our horsy audience uses so rather obvious who had been with us for the full week. Some sunburns were a bit more on the red side then others.

Yet hats are something our audience uses, lovely to see so many beautiful hats being paraded about of all from the trendy Panama hats to more of the English cap version.

Gathering our spectators for the day into the arena area really gave a feel for how many was actually here, during the XC days you have spectators everywhere and it´s hard to get an appreciation of how many visitors there are around. Today we could conclude and even stopped counting .. there was a lot of spectators today!

We started the day with horse inspection in all classes CCI 1* / CCI 2* and CCI 3* and the CICO3* Nations Cup. Picking up on some comments from the riders and Head Coaches today the XC had given the horses good footing and been quite fast to ride but with lots of technical questions given both horses and riders a proper test. In all classes, we had less the 10 horses being withdrawn or not excepted so most horses came out being fresh and in good shape. The trot up strip continued to prove itself a bit “scary” (windy) to the horses resulting in a few jumpy horses and some riders having to hold on properly to the reins. Our Chief Stewards gorgeous chocolate colored Labrador Inka continued to make sure we were all behaving and preforming our best.

After trot up it was all about show jumping. And all about Germany. Well, almost.

The German team came in as overnight leader in both the FEI NATIONS CUP team and Individual class and even though we had some really good rides today the German team proved unstoppable. Some horses came in strong in the jumping round but quite a few showed a bit of tiredness in the end of the course and the fences came falling down one by one.

The weekend´s winner was Kai Rüder who managed both 1st and 4th position in the CIC 2* and as icing on the cake come in 1st in the individual CICO3*. Hats off, well done and what a super weekend for Kai and his team!

A winner that we admire even a bit more was German winner of the CIC1* Janet Wiesner who had a baby daughter only 7 weeks ago and still managed to beat the entire class and take a super win in the CIC1*. We are just so impressed that we still can’t really take it in!

Yet the Germans were not planning on settling with this; they also took home the entire FEI NATIONS CUP TEAM victory with a striking marginal of incredible 68 (!!) points to Team GBR coming in 2nd and close to 70 to Sweden ending up 3rd.

Though we have to say it was really good fun to see so many new riders on the teams and we think it great to see the teams giving not only the top riders a shot at the Nations Cup but also the upcoming ones who needs the experience test to grow.

So, a lot about Germany BUT also...

Karin Donckers - we at the press office adore Karin! She is such a pleasure to interview and never says no to us when we ask for her precious time. Karin had 4 horses in the 3* and we were cheering her on all the way as she had a super win in the CCI3*. We look forward to see a whole lot more of her in August.

Sanna Siltakorpi - what a super ride from Finland and a great win in the CCI2*. Sanna helped her Finnish team to qualify to the Europeans for the first time in 28 years! Well done Finland and we can´t wait to see your team here in August.

Miloslav Prihoda - Starting out on 5th from dressage Milolsav had a great ride in the XC with no additional penalties, all pushing him straight into the lead. A great win in the CCI1* and welcome back Strzegom!

The top positions for STRZEGOM HORSE TRIALS 2017 ended up as follows:

CIC1* Janet Wiesner (GER)

CCI1* Miloslav Prihoda (CZE)

CIC2* Kai Rüder (GER)

CCI2* Sanna Siltakorpi (FIN)

CCI3* Karin Donckers (BEL)

CICO3* Individual Kai Rüder (GER)

CICO3* / Nations CUP Team GERMANY

A HUGH CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL BACK IN AUGUST FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Until then, enjoy the fantastic eventing season ahead and see you soon!